The Messers
by potato-magic
Summary: I present Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, purveyors of aids to magical mischief-makers in their last two years at Hogwarts and the time beyond. Together they face the trials and tribulations of family, friends and the ever changing world they live in. Rating for violence, mature themes, swearing and anything else that may come up.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N. Hello everyone. Right off the bat I'm just going to warn you this got a lot darker than I had intended it. The M rating is for a reason, mature themes, course language, and maybe eventual sexy times, nothing that you wouldn't see if you watch TV after 10pm. Pairings are James/Lily right off the bat (i think chapter three or four it's mentioned), eventual Sirius/Remus with touches of Sirius/Marlene and Sirius/OC in flashbacks. This is embellished canon so anything I get wrong let me know (aside from my Wolfstar which it seems is only real in the hearts and minds of me and plays very little role in this story as a whole), and as it sits it's not really beta'd, though I'm sure you will point out my errors in the comments- this is the interwebs. Enjoy. _

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Sirius felt very drowsy curled up in shade under one of the large oak trees on the Potter's estate. He had been trying to read "David Copperfield" but the sun was too warm for him to care much and he found himself drifting off to sleep.

"Sirius! Lunch is ready!" Dorea Potter called from the back door of the house. Sirius groaned and sat up. He felt sluggish as he got up.

Dorea was standing at the door waiting for him. "Have a nice nap?" she said with a kind smile.

Sirius yawned, "Not bad." Dorea smirked and closed the door behind them. They went into the kitchen where James and Charlus Potter were arm wrestling.

"Come on old man, is that all you've got!" James said with a wild grin.

Dorea shook her head, "I leave you two alone for one minute!" Sirius sniggered as he sat down next to James who was winning against the older man. Turns out hours of training with the Quidditch team had really paid off. Dorea came over, levitating four bowls. "Okay you two, save it until after lunch." James let off at his mother's command, giving his father the perfect opportunity to pin the boy's hand down.

"Haha! Nice try pup!" Charlus Potter said with a grin mirroring his sons so closely that it was eerie. Sirius was always astonished by how much James looked like his father. As much as James looked like his father, Sirius looked like James' mother who bore the typical Black look. She had the same grey eyes, aristocratic features, thick black hair, and slightly pouty mouth as Sirius, and after much thinking about it Sirius came to the realization Dorea was his great aunt. James and Charlus had a very Potteresque look; they were lanky, with messy black hair and very poor eyesight. The four of them passed easily enough as a family, though the elder Potters knew better then to take Sirius on any sorts of social calls. He was kicked out of the 'pure blood club', and as such he was not supposed to show his face in society regardless of the situation.

"Mum? What is this?" James said with disgust, which drew Sirius' attention to the bowl of steaming... something in front of him.

"It's the lentil recipe I got from Druella. She said that it was very good for you. Full of all sorts of vitamins and things." Dorea said.

"Well it looks like Hippogriff spit up." James said, poking the lentils with his fork, his nose crinkled up.

Sirius perked up at the mention of his aunt Druella. "You saw Druella?" he said before he could stop himself.

Dorea stiffened slightly. Since Sirius had moved in with them she had been very careful not to mention who it was she was visiting with when she went out. "Yes, on Monday," she said reluctantly.

"Did she mention anything about..." Sirius stopped. He didn't know what he wanted to hear about. Was his brother alright? Did his mother miss him? How were things in the most ancient and noble house of Black? He didn't know really, he just felt he needed to know something.

"About what, dear?" Dorea asked hesitantly.

"Nothing... I just... Don't worry." Sirius said before picking up his spoon and beginning to eat the lentils which thankfully tasted much better than they looked, though any hunger he had before was now gone.

"Alright..." Dorea said, unsure of what else to say. An uncomfortable silence followed where no one knew what to say, and the only sound was the spoons scrapping on the bowls.

"These lentils are very good, darling." Charlus said.

"Thank you, Charlus." Dorea said, giving him a weak smile.

"Sorry for making things awkward..." Sirius said more into his bowl than anything.

"Oh no, you don't need to apologize. It's normal to... well you know..." Dorea said weakly.

Sirius nodded prompting another awkward silence, which lasted less time than the first.

"So boys, are you two all packed and ready for tomorrow?" Charlus asked.

"Yeah," the boys replied in unison, prompting them to look at each other and smirk.

"Are you sure you have everything this year? I don't want to get another letter telling me that you forgot something the second day back." Charlus said.

"Yes I'm sure I have everything." James said, rolling his eyes.

"My mother refused to send me anything I forgot my first year, I learned pretty quickly not to forget anything I will desperately need." Sirius said, casually. Dorea and Charlus exchanged glances.

"Is that why you didn't have socks first year?" James said with a knowing smirk.

Sirius nodded, "I'm surprised I didn't get frostbite that winter." He smiled slightly.

After lunch the boys went out and played a little one on one keep away Quidditch until they were called in for dinner, sweaty, sore, sun burnt and laughing heartily.

...

Remus was sitting back against the head bored of his parent's bed reading from a tattered copy of "A Farewell to Arms" to his mother who, from the looks of things was asleep. He didn't really want to leave her just then, not when he was going back to school the next day, not when her illness was so bad. She looked sick, and though the doctors had said that they would 'help with the pain', they hadn't made it go away, and he could see the lines of it written on her face. He sighed and put the book down, not really enjoying it much anyway.

She stirred beside him, "You never did like Hemmingway much, did you?" Her eyes stayed closed, and he almost liked it better that way now that the jaundice had set in, and her normally very pretty blue eyes had been frames in a terrible shade. As guilty as he felt, he couldn't help but feel relief at the low lighting; it meant he couldn't see the sickness that clung to his mother like a terrible fog.

He remembered when he was younger she used to be so lively. She had always had such a lovely smile on her face, and a mischievous glint to her eyes. She used to take him for walks through the woods, much to Remus' father's dismay, and she would tell him about all the different tales that her Granny had told her when she was young about the woods sprites and fair folk who danced in forest clearings. He had loved those days, and the thought of them now made his chest knot painfully. He wondered if she remembered those days.

The air was thick with the humidity of the late August day which was made worse by the smell of dust and hospital that had begun to cling to his mother. It seemed like every soft surface oozed that smell of fake security and decay.

"I thought you were sleeping." he said, resting his head back against the faded flower print wall paper over the headboard.

She made a faint humming sound, "I was just resting... You know you don't have to sit here with me." She opened her eyes then to look at him, squinting at the light from the only lamp on in the room.

"I want to," he promised, taking her hand into his own. Her hands were small felt almost childlike against his. She felt innocent.

"Are you all packed?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Mostly. I just have a few things left." He wanted to discuss something he had been mulling over, but feared her reaction so he left it, and it felt as though it were hanging there between them.

"What is it dear?" she asked, squeezing his hand weakly for reassurance.

"What if I took the next term off school?" he said, his voice wavering slightly.

"No," she said immediately, "Why on earth would you do that?" She was now looking at him with a look only a scolding mother could muster.

"I want to stay here, to make sure that you and dad are alright." he said, not wanting to look at her, and instead finding a small burn mark on the covers from one of his father's cigarettes very interesting.

She shook her head, looking up at the ceiling. "Do you not realize how much of a blessing it is for you to get to go to school?"

"I know," he said, "Really. I just don't feel right leaving you like this. I will go back after Christmas, I just want to stay here for a while longer."

"And what happens if I don't die before Christmas? Then you won't go back for the spring either. You need to stay in school, Remus. There are so many people like you who never get the chance. I would rather know that you did well then spend time with you while you waste this opportunity." She said, her voice filled with irrefutable grief.

"But mum, I just... I..." He stuttered, no wanting to say that he wanted to be there when she died. He didn't want to think about it, but the reality of impending doom was a weight on his heart and his mind in equal measure.

"I know." she said, and gave his hand another squeeze. He felt the tears welling up behind his eyes and he blinked rapidly, trying to clear them and failing miserably. "Oh, baby, don't cry." she said, but her voice cracked, and he could see the tears in her own eyes surfacing.

"I'm just so scared," he said. He was shivering despite the heat of the day, and the tears left salty trail down his cheeks.

"I can understand that," she gave a wet laugh that sounded faintly like a sob. "I'm so scared... I don't even know..." He could feel her trembling beside him, and that made his heart break. He put his arms around her and they cried for a long time, holding each other, until she fell asleep. His entire being ached, right to the core, and he didn't want to leave his mother. He wanted to keep holding her like that, feeling her steady breathing against him, until the end of the world. But it was with a heavy heart that he rose and left the room.

He went into his own room and lied in his bed, looking up at the ceiling fan spinning and spinning mindlessly around. He felt numb and shattered all at the same time. After a while his father came to see him. The man knocked on the door gently before entering, and taking a seat on the end of Remus' bed. Remus paid him no mind except a cursory glance as he entered the room.

"Remus..." his father said, the uncertainty in his voice was palpable, "Do you remember when we used to go to the fairs, back when we were in Wales?"

"Yeah?" Remus looked at his father. He sat up slightly, resting back on his elbows.

"You used to love those fairs, and I remember you once told me- you were very young at the time, must have been only eight or nine- that if you didn't get to go to Hogwarts you were going to run off and become a carnie." he chucked slightly at the memory as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Remus looked at his father for a moment, wondering where this was going.

"Well I think you used to love those fairs so much cause that was really the only excitement you ever knew-"

"I dunno, full moons are pretty exciting," Remus said with a cynical smirk.

Lyell looked at his son, "You know what I mean." The man rubbed the bridge of his nose where his reading glasses normally sat. "I think the reason you wanted to go and be a carnie because that was fun, and that was freedom to you. I remember when we used to walk home from the greengrocers when we lived in Newport we would have to walk a few blocks out of the way because there was a little park down the street from where we lived, and I hated to have to tell you that you weren't allowed to go and play. Who wants to say that to a little boy? And I... What I mean is..." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair again.

Remus sat up and looked at his father, who was notoriously terrible at trying to talk about his feelings. The man looked haggard, and Remus felt a great wave of empathy for the man. "It's okay dad," he said in what he hoped was an encouraging manner. His heart was thumping noisily with worry as to what his father had to say.

"I'm just sorry, Remus." his father said. Lyell wasn't looking at Remus, but the boy could tell that his father was awaiting a response.

"What are you sorry for?" Remus asked, more or less already knowing the answer.

"For everything..." his father said, his voice wavering ever so slightly. Remus put a hand on his father's arm, and Lyell looked up at him.

"It's okay dad... It'll be okay." he tried his hardest at a genuine smile.

...

"Okay, robes, shirts, jumpers, trousers, pants, socks, shoes, pajamas, books... Is that all my books? Where did I put that list?" the boy began sifting through all the little bits of paper littering his desk before he found the list in question. "There we go, okay, magic herbs and fungi, guide to herbology, standard spells six, counter curse, practical defensive magic, intermediate transfiguration, book of potions... where the hell is my care book? Fuck."

The boy began looking for his rather worn copy of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". He hated care of magical creatures, the whole thing made him nervous, but he didn't really know what else to take. He had failed divinations, and everything else seemed too difficult. He had opted for a rather light course schedule this year after he received the results of his OWLs from the year before.

"PETER!" He heard his mother calling him from downstairs.

"Coming Mum!" he left the search for his books in favor of whatever menial chore his mother was going to have him doing. His mother was a witch who disliked using magic unless 'absolutely necessary', because learning to do things the muggle way 'builds character'. Needless to say that Peter hated this. He lived in a house with three witches who were of age, and yet he still found himself scrubbing floors, peeling potatoes, etc. all by muggle means.

He found his mother in the kitchen, doing the washing up. "Peter," she said, not even turning to look at him, "have you finished your packing yet?"

"I was just working on it," he said, a little annoyed she interrupted him.

"Okay, cause I just got word from your father. He said that you could go and spend the night with him tonight if you wanted. Then you could just take a taxi to the station in the morning, and not have to worry about flooing in." his mother said, still not looking at him.

"Dad invited me over?" Peter asked.

"Yes, he wants you to spend the night." His mother turned to look at him now, turning the water off and grabbing a towel from off the counter to dry her hands. "You don't have to go if you don't want to." she said. Peter found it a little unfair that he didn't inherit any looks from his mother. She was tall, slim and blonde with a delicate oval face and bright green eyes with hick lashes. She was wonderfully elegant, Peter wondered why it was he obtained none of her looks. He was short and portly; where her hair was gold his was a mousy brown. His nose was too pointy and his eyes were too small and beady looking. The only thing he seemed to get from her was his very delicate looking lady hands, which had become a bit of a joke among his friends.

"I'll go, I just need to finish packing and then I can floo over." he said, still a little surprised by his father's offer. His father was a ministry official who lived in London with his new wife, Christie, who was closer to Peter's age than to his father's. From the boy's understanding his father was a habitually cold man, who had left Peter's mother when Peter had been very small. Most of what Peter knew about his father came from his two older sisters who had grown up with the man.

"Okay, he said he would be at work until five or so, so just check in before you go over." his mother said as Peter left to go and finish his packing.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter thought he over paid the cabbie when the man drove away rather quickly after Peter handed him a handful of one pound notes. He should have taken muggle studies, he though as he pushed his trolley through the station towards platform 9 and 10. The station was crowded and when he got the barrier, and he had to keep 'looking for things in his trunk' so that it didn't look odd that he was standing there staring at a brick wall.

He was feeling slightly irritable waiting there. The night before had been long and awkward, and this morning even more so. His father and Christie had seen fit to take Peter to one of the posh muggle restaurants they frequented, which Peter's mother would have never been able to afford, and they kept asking him questions, only to seem very disinterested in the answer. Christie's laugh was annoying and she looked too much like a younger version of Peter's mother for his comfort. His father smoked muggle cigarettes, and wore too many rings and laughed at Christies terrible jokes. It had just been very uncomfortable. And now he was stuck standing in the stupid muggle station, waiting to get through the barrier.

"Hey Pete."

Peter turned around to see Remus coming up to him, smiling and dragging his trunk along. Peter was a little shocked when he saw his friend. Remus looked absolutely exhausted, he was pale and there were bags under his eyes that looked almost like bruises. There was a new scar on his cheek that was obviously rather fresh- it must have been from the last moon.

"You look like shit, mate." Peter said.

Remus smirked, "Thanks Peter, you tact is always appreciated... Why are you standing here? You waiting for James and Sirius to show up?"

Peter shook his head, "It's been busy, didn't want to draw too much attention to myself."

"Oh," Remus said, "Well have fun," and with a cheeky grin he looked around before darting through the barrier.

"Damn it Remus!" Peter said as he hurried to keep up. He ran through the barrier and came out on the other side to find Remus waiting for him with a smirk worthy of a marauder plastered on his face.

"Come on, let's go get a compartment, I've got to get my robes on, I have a prefect meeting right away." Remus said and began to head into the crowd, Peter right behind him.

"So where's your mum?" Remus asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I stayed at my dad's last night."

"Really?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows. From everything Peter had said about his father Remus was rather surprised by this revelation.

Peter sighed, "Unfortunately. The new bint he's dating is terrible."

"That's Maeve, right? Your dad's girlfriend?" Remus asked as they stated to load their bags into the train.

"Nah. That was his girlfriend last year. Maeve was alright, she just had a nose the size of Ireland. Christie is the new girl." Peter said, handing his trunk to Remus who loaded it into the train for him. "I'll go put the trolleys away if you want to grab a compartment."

"Okay," Remus said as he grabbed his trunk and dragged it down to the first compartment on the left. He stowed his trunk and brought in all the rest of his and Peter's things, putting them all in their proper place. He pulled his robes out of his trunk and pulled the blinds down on the windows and door before starting to change. The last thing he wanted was anyone seeing all the scars that littered his body. It would raise too many questions. The scars had gotten worse over the summer. He had been so worried for his mother, and then by Sirius that the wolf had decided to take that worry out on itself. He had managed to puncture a lung just three weeks ago, and had needed to stay for a few days in St. Mungo's to get fixed up.

Peter came in as Remus was doing up the buttons on his shirt, and quickly closed the door behind him. "How are you doing?" he asked as he sat down next to the window.

"I'm fine?" Remus said.

"You know you can tell me if something's wrong, right?" Peter said, opening the blinds, now that Remus had his shirt on, and looked out at the crowd.

"I know. Thanks Peter." Remus gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Do you see the other messers out there yet?"

Peter snorts, "Yeah, looks like Sirius just ran his mother over with a trolley."

"What?" Remus went over to the window and scanned the crowd before seeing what looked like a quickly escalating scene. Sirius appeared to be getting a real earful from his mother who looked like she was on the war path. Sirius looked as though he was about to kill someone. Regulus stood beside his mother with a haughty sneer on his face, and Dorea Potter seemed to be trying to calm down both her niece and ward. People were beginning to stare, and Remus could see Sirius say something which made Dorea glare at him.

"Hang on, I've got an idea," Remus said as he grabbed his robes with the little silver prefect badge pinned to the front and ran out of the train.

Peter watched as Remus walked over to where the Blacks were having their little spat. Peter recognized the look on his friend's face and the assertive posture he held. He was in prefect mode. Peter watched as Remus marched right over to Sirius and said something to him with made Sirius look very confused, Walburga and Regulus look smug and caused James to grin like an idiot. Remus then pointed at the trolleys, the train, Regulus and the barrier before saying something to Walburga and dragging Sirius off by the wrist. A few moments later the two laughing friends came into the compartment, their arms around each other.

"Remus Lupin you are bloody brilliant." Sirius said as he threw himself onto the seat next to Peter.

"What happened, all I saw was a lot of yelling then Remus showed up, said something, waved about a bit and you two came in here."

"I pulled the prefect card, said Sirius was in the wrong and strongly suggested he come with me." Remus said with an impish grin.

"Remus Lupin abuser of power for the sake of the greater good!" Sirius said with a smirk, earning him a whap on the back of the head form Remus.

The compartment door swung open and James came in dragging his trunk. "Yours is out in the hallway if you want it." James said to Sirius who got up to go and fetch it. James was grinning, "Remus Lupin you are bloody brilliant."

"Deja vu..." Peter said, earning a snicker form Remus and a confused look from James.

"Thank you Mr. Prongs," Remus said, patting the other boy on the shoulder.

Sirius came in a moment later dragging his trunk. He tucked it away and flopped down across from Peter, dragging Remus down to sit beside him. Remus turned to Sirius, "So you ran your mother over?"

"I only hit her really, and only because she was standing in front to the barrier talking to some distant and inbred relative of mine, so when I came through, naturally I ran into her, which led to her causing a great bloody scene. So much for no longer associating with me in public," Sirius scoffed, "Stupid bitch."

James and Remus exchanged a look that Sirius missed as the whistle sounded.

"Well," Remus said standing up, "I will see you lads in a bit." He walked towards the door of the compartment.

"Say hello to Evans for me!" James said with a smirk.

"Sorry mate, but I like remaining in one piece." Remus ducked out of the compartment leaving the other three marauders to their own devices.

"How long's this thing with Evans going to go on for?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

"Until she finally confesses her undying love for me," James said. He was grinning madly, and clutching at his chest.

James had been "jokingly" flirting with Lily Evans for nearly two years now, much to the annoyance of the young red head. At first she had just told James off, but in the last few months of their fifth year she had taken to hurling (occasionally very nasty) hexes at him. And though Sirius would never say this to James, he was beginning to think that this great "joke" was not only very unfunny now, but it was also starting to border on obsession. Sirius and Remus had a bit of a running joke going about James and Lily getting married and having children, though they both shuddered at the thought. They concluded that any child James and Lily would have would be a right git, and that neither one would ever offer to babysit ever, no matter what.

"What are you smirking about?" James asked, looking at Sirius' rather goofy expression.

"What the kid you and Evans will have is going to look like," Sirius said, "I imagine ginger hair that sticks up all higgledy-piggledy like yours with big coke bottle glasses. The kid will be a right tosser."

Peter snickered at that evaluation. James frowned, "My hair is not higgledy-piggledy, it's the 'fresh off the broom look', and I'll have you know it takes a long time to get it to look like this."

"So that's why your showers take so bloody long in the morning?" Sirius said with a smirk.

"Oh fuck off Padfoot." James said.

Sirius shook his head in mock disapproval, "Temper, temper Jamesie."

Peter made a silly little noise somewhere between a giggle and a snort, and the other two boys burst out laughing, causing Peter to blush and unflattering shade of red.

It seemed like no time at all before the four merry pranksters were piling into the carriage to lead them up to the castle.

"We should learn to ride thestrals," Sirius said.

Remus looked at him, "Why would we want to do that? We can't even see them."

"And neither can most people here I bet. Think of it, flying about on invisible bat horses, the chaos we can cause, the panic we can incite!" He was ginning madly now.

"How will we find them if we can't see them?" Peter asked, looking a little nervous about the whole idea.

"We'll find someone who can, and they'll help us." Sirius said, sounding very sure of himself.

"Yes, let's just post it on the school message boards, 'Have you watched someone die? Do you enjoy causing trouble? Call the marauders for the chance of a lifetime!'" James said, "Though I like the idea."

"Let's kill Peter then we can see the thestrals!" Sirius said as he took Peter into a headlock, eliciting an unmanly squeak from the boy.

"You'll get to see the thestrals from the window of your cell in Azkaban then." Remus said.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "They'd never suspect me, and if they did they'd never catch me. I'm too crafty for that. Like a fox."

"Or the grim." Remus said with a knowing smile. "Let's face it no one wants to go near you when you're Padfoot."

James laughed, "Even dementors will cower before Sirius as the rather fluffy omen of death!"

"Remember in third year divinations when I kept seeing the grim in every prediction? I wonder if I'm just a really great seer whose powers have been vastly underestimated. The cosmos knew I was a dog before I did." Sirius said.

James laughed, "We've known you were a dog all along." Peter and Remus joined in, and they laughed and bantered all the way to the castle.


End file.
